Miyamoto Interviews> January 2002, Dengeki GC

Q: What are your impressions of the Gamecube's release?
A: Well, I guess my personal opinion was that it sold less than I expected. (laughs) I thought the initial numbers would move a bit more than they were, but that's the way things turned out. Once Pikmin was released we began outselling the PS2 in console sales, but then again, the PS2 is the PS2 and the Xbox is the Xbox. Like I've been saying before, I don't think we're really competitors. I mean, we're competitors in that the buyer has to make a choice between us, but as far as the content of the games we're making, there's no competition at all.

Q: What is Nintendo's lineup for 2002?
A: Mario Sunshine and Zelda GC are going along just fine. The teams working on them realize that they can't afford to do something wrong, so they'll be all right. The 100 Mario demo we showed last year [at Spaceworld] is still going. Our goal is to release about ten titles next year under the Nintendo brand, at a rate of one game per month. I personally would prefer to make nothing but new games, but there are lots of people who want to keep on playing things like Smash Brothers. If you make a sequel that only people who played the first game will want, though, then you're limiting yourself to other people's expectations, so in a way it's the same as giving up making a successful game. It's a sign that you don't feel like fighting anymore, that you just want to keep what you have now. I know it's dangerous betting everything you have right now, but that's what our president says he's been saving money for, and we're taking that statement at face value as we work.

Q: What developments will we see between the GC and the GBA?
A: You can connect the GC and GBA together very easily, so I'd be happy if we see other companies, not just Nintendo, use this connection to connect games together. Kind of like, if you buy a GC game, you get these bonuses on the GBA, sort of thing. I also have great expectations for the card e-reader; that's something else we're grappling with. If that develops well, then we'll be able to provide software on three different media: on paper with the reader, in ROMs with the GBA, and on discs with the GC. It would be a far more practical sort of network than the nebulous communications networks you see today.

Q: What do you think of online games?
A: Everyone seems to be interested in online games these days, so I thought I'd better get out of that field quick. (laughs) Kidding aside, when we're developing a game nowadays, the localization process for each part of the world is very difficult to deal with. We want kids to play our games in their own language, after all. Localizing text within games is hard enough, but I think network game localization is way more difficult than that. To me, making a network game would be the same as quitting making games meant for the entire world. So whatever Nintendo decides to do in network games, I have no interest at all in them.

Q: Is there a chance of a sequel to Pikmin?
A: The game system is solid enough, so we would make a sequel very quickly if we wanted to make something very close to the original... Right now we're discussing releasing one in about half a year. There was lots of stuff I couldn't get into the first one, and I've been writing down ideas for the second one almost immediately. I think it's something that works well as a series. I'd also like to use them in other games and make them into a Mario-level character. They're somewhere between Mario and Pokemon on the scale, so I'd like to make them a character that'd appeal to anyone.

<< Back to Miyamoto Interviews

Missed an Update? Click here!     Bored? Hit the Forums!